Review: Heritage 1492 Tradicionales

Last year, a company by the name of Global Marketing & Distribution, made its debut in the cigar industry at the IPCPR trade show in Las Vegas. They entered into the industry with multiple brands, and besides having a number of brands, they were using multiple factories. A majority of their brands are made in the Dominican Republic at Tabacalera el Artista, but two of the brands, which have two offerings each, are made by two well known families. Kelner and Oliva. Today I look at Heritage 1492 Tradicionales, and this is the Dominican version of the Heritage 1492 brand that is made by Hendrik Kelner Jr. at the Kelner Boutique Factory in the Dominican Republic.

Cigar: Heritage 1492 Tradicionales Robusto

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic

Factory: Kelner Boutique Factory

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Connecticut

Binder: Dominican Republic

Filler: Dominican Republic and Nicaragua

Length: 5"

Ring Gauge: 52

Vitola: Robusto

The cigar comes with a super smooth wrapper that sports a few medium sized veins. It is silky with a touch of oils and it has a lovely Natural Claro coloring to it. To me, it is a very old school colored wrapper, and it brings me back to my early days of smoking. There is a large cap present on the cigar, and it is very cutter friendly. The foot of the cigar is delivering this creamy marshmallow smell, and it has some sweet tobacco, hay and weather wood aroma. There is this aroma that reminds me of my youth as well, a place called Hannawa Falls. The wrapper is giving off a similar aroma with a subtle chocolate quality.

The first third begins with a nice sweet spice and it has a chai quality to it as well. There is a nice creamy profile with the cigar as well, and it has a finish of hay, toast and tobacco. It comes off as being very smooth, which it is, but it has a nice spicy kick on the finish which adds some complexity to the overall blend. I would say that it smokes around a medium level in terms of body and strength, and the same goes for the flavor profile. The spice adds a lot, but it does not take away from the direction of the cigar. With some solid flavors, the construction is great and it is producing an even burn line with a cool draw. There is a nice bit of smoke being produced, and it has a nice light charcoal ash on the end.

I am in the second third of the cigar now and I am finding that the flavor profile delivered is very similar to that of the first third. I am getting a nice creamy and woody flavor profile, notes of hay as well, and it has that sweet spice present as well. I am picking up that chai flavor, which I love, and it has a soft earthiness present as well. Overall, the second third smokes at that medium level in all categories, and it is in line with the first third. The construction remains top notch in this third and it delivering that cool draw with a lot of smoke. The burn line remains perfect and on the end is that soft charcoal ash which is holding on firmly. So far, an enjoyable smoke which is a great morning smoke.

Like the first two thirds, the final third delivers that core flavor profile that is very entertaining and enjoyable, but not overly complex. I am picking up that core hay, tobacco and cedar flavor profile, and it is accompanied by that sweet spice and chai profile. There is that creamy and earthy aspect present as well,and it is a great morning smoke in my opinion. The strength, body and flavors remain at that medium level, same as the first two thirds, and it makes for a really nice smoking experience. The construction, like the first two thirds as well, is perfect and it is delivering that even burn line with a light charcoal ash on the end. The draw is cool and producing a great bit of smoke, all the way to the nub.

Heritage 1492 Tradicionales Robusto is one of those cigars that will not let you down and is great in the morning or early afternoon. It is not strong or full by any means, nor is it very complex,but it is balanced and producing an enjoyable core flavor profile from start to finish. It is a blend that shows the use of the Ecuadorian Connecticut and Dominican tobacco, but you can definitely pick up that Nicaraguan tobacco as well. The cigar itself is rolled perfectly, and in that sense it won't let you down or leave you annoyed in the possibility of have to retouch the cigar from time to time. The cigar itself has a higher price range, it is just shy of some of the Davidoff prices, but this is made at Kelner Jr.'s factory, so I would not expect a cheaper product. While I would typically not have these in my humidor, it is not something I hold onto, it is a cigar that I would have a couple of so that I could share with some smokers who are not big smokers, but not beginner smokers as well. With that being said, I give the cigar a solid 86.